WASHINGTON — A record $100 billion in withdrawals of Treasury bills is raising speculation that the Kremlin and Russian oligarchs are yanking their money out of the United States to avoid upcoming sanctions over Ukraine.

The massive outflow over the past week came as President Obama and other top US officials repeatedly warned Russia would face a “cost” if it didn’t reverse course in Ukraine.

The total amount of foreign-held US Treasury securities dropped to $2.86 trillion — lowest in more than a year.

Last year, the most moved out in a week was $32 billion.

Analysts said that if the switch was made by Russia, it would represent about 80 percent of that nation’s US Treasury holdings.

“This is only speculation on our part, but it seems likely that the Russian authorities had more than $100 billion of Treasury debt in custody at the Fed, and it doesn’t seem implausible that they moved it to a jurisdiction where it would be less vulnerable to a US asset freeze,” Lou Crandall at Wrightson ICAP LLC told The Wall Street Journal.

News of the financial movements came on a day of violent protests in Ukraine and no sign of a crisis resolution.

Russia’s foreign ministry is blaming the unrest on “extreme rightist groups” and stating bluntly that it will protect ethnic Russians in the region.

“Russia is aware of its responsibility for the lives of compatriots and fellow citizens in Ukraine and reserves the right to take people under its protection,” the ministry said — raising fears of further intervention by Russia, which effectively took control of Crimea last month.

Russia also shipped more heavy equipment and troops into the region, where residents vote Sunday whether to separate from Ukraine.

The US ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, called the referendum “hastily planned, unjustified and divisive,” but there was little doubt it would proceed and tighten Russia’s grip.

Secretary of State John Kerry met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in London to discuss a possible diplomatic solution but reported no progress after six fruitless hours of talks.

“There will be consequences if Russia does not find a way to change course,” Kerry warned.

But his words had no effect.

After his meeting at the stately US embassy in London, Lavrov declared: “We have no common vision of the situation. Everyone understands — and I say this with all responsibility — what Crimea means to Russia.”

He went on to say it meant “immeasurably more” than the Falkland Islands mean to Great Britain. Britain went to war with Argentina over the Falklands in 1982. Lavrov indicated Russia wouldn’t invade eastern Ukraine.